The Vampire King's Bride

Chapter 16

The words: next phase of the plan, echoed inside my head. Opening my eyes, I wasn’t in Skylar’s room anymore, I was in the rose garden inside the maze.

‘Sky?’ I called, unsure how I even got here.

‘Sorry to disappoint you but this is the only way we can meet in private,’ the shadow figure said, stepping forward from the entrance.

Looking at him I could tell he was different somehow, his face and body were still black, but his features were getting more defined and he looked more solid, less like a puff of smoke.

‘Why can’t you leave me alone?’

‘That’s not in the cards.’

‘I’ll put it on my cards then.’

He chuckled, ‘I was right to gift you with the element.’

‘Maybe take it away instead?’

‘That is not possible unless you are killed. However, I don’t think this Sky person would like that.’

I ground my teeth together trying to supress my anger.

‘Come now, there’s no need to get angry.’

‘Really? I don’t enjoy these visits.’

‘You will come to like them.’

‘What do you want now?’

‘I’m here to start your teachings.’

‘Teachings?’

‘Yes, you must learn how to control your element. Now that you have been turned into a vampire, the element will activate properly.’

I stared at him. This thing could not be serious in thinking I would willingly learn anything from him. After all, I knew what my future held and it wasn’t something that I ever wanted to see come true.

‘You have got to be kidding. You really think that I will learn anything from you?’

‘Either you learn how to control it or you will lose control and kill everyone you care about.’

‘Fine,’ I said, through clenched teeth.

‘Perfect.’

Through the entire ordeal, he had me practice different movements, swaying like the waters do, he told me. I wouldn’t be able to control the water while I was in my dream state, but I could get the basics down and practice when I woke up.

‘Once you have the base movements learned, I will bring my son in to help you learn how to fight.’

‘I barely want to learn how to do this. What makes you think I want to learn how to fight?’

‘It’s either you learn in your dreams or I will have him find you in person.’

‘I don’t like being blackmailed.’

‘Then just cooperate.’

The whole thing was making me angry. I have been forced to do what everyone else wants. Once I was rescued by Skylar, I thought I’d be living a different future, but it’s all the same, just more threats.

Then it occurred to me. If I let him teach me all of these techniques, then it is possible that I might be able to use them against him.

‘That’s it for now. I will be seeing you again soon,’ he said as he faded away before my eyes.

Opening my eyes, I was back in Skylar’s room. The shutters were going up for the night, meaning that the dream went for the entire day I was asleep.

Sitting up, I glanced over and saw Sky fast asleep beside me. Looking at him sleeping peacefully, I decided I couldn’t tell him about these training sessions otherwise he’d search day and night to find the shadow figure and kill him. I had a feeling that killing the shadow figure wouldn’t come easy, definitely not at the moment, since he’s still not completely solid. Although when he starts to look more human, then maybe we might have a chance.

Getting out of bed, I decided to take a shower. As I stood underneath the warm spray, I tried practicing some of the techniques he taught me.

The water at the bottom of the shower started to swirl in response to the circular motion I was doing with my hands.

I stopped in surprise, it really worked. Part of me didn’t believe I was capable of controlling the water element.

A knock sounded on the door.

‘Lia, Akuma is arriving in the next hour.’

I wrapped a towel around myself and stuck my head out of the door.

‘You letting me sit in on the meeting?’

‘Of course, it involved you after all.’

I smiled up at Sky, who replied with a swift kiss on my forehead.

‘Now hurry up and get ready or we might get stuck in the bedroom all night,’ he purred.

My cheeks went pink as I realised what he meant. My body heated up thinking about what he would do to me.

‘That look makes me want to stay even longer.’

Opening the door wider, he pulled me into an embrace and kissed me deeply. My body responded to his kiss by pressing myself right up against his.

‘I’m sorry to disturb you,’ a voice called from behind us.

Sky groaned,’ Get dressed, we’ll finish this later.’

Turning around, Skylar answered the door. Murmurs floated through the doorway as I got changed into a simple dark blue dress.

‘Turns out Akuma has arrived already,’ Sky said as soon as I walked out of the bathroom.

‘He’s early,’ I replied, my heart rate getting quicker.

‘Yah, so we’ll need to hurry. I want him out of here quickly.’

‘Me to.’

Together we headed towards the room the meeting was being held in. The room was located on the bottom floor of the house, in the hallway that led to the pool.

As we reached the door, I stopped.

‘What’s wrong?’ Sky asked.

‘Nothing. I just need a minute before going in.’

‘Sure.’

Skylar walked through the door, leaving me alone in the hallway. I didn’t know if I could go ahead and see Mr Akuma again. Just thinking of his name makes my skin crawl, reminding me of what he almost did to me the last time I saw him.

‘What are you doing out here?’

I jumped, placing my hand on my chest above my heart as Erik approached me.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.’

‘That’s alright.’

‘You worried about seeing him again?’

I nodded, my eyes landing on my hands.

‘You don’t need to be. Between Sky and I he has no chance at getting to you.’

‘Yeah.’

With Erik right behind me, I took a deep breath and walked into the room.